So, I figured out why wlan0 doesn’t get an IP address when hostapd starts up.
ifplugd messes about with the interfaces when they go up and down, so the simplest solution is to disable ifplugd for wlan0 !
in /etc/default/ifplugd, the default configuration is this
INTERFACES="auto"
HOTPLUG_INTERFACES="all"
ARGS="-q -f -u0 -d10 -w -I"
SUSPEND_ACTION="stop"

I have to say that to make Raspberry Pi to really work as AP I had to come a long way. I hope others will find this page faster. Every article how to make raspberry PI wifi AP (hostapd + isc-dhcp-server ) should have a link to this page

This joke has turned me crazy for almost a full day. The problem is that I did the same configuration (a RasPi in AP mode) nearly 6 months ago, without any problem, but using an Occidentalis distro at that time. It seems that updates brought by NOOBS Raspbian has broken something (kernel is not the same BTW).

Great Tutorial really easy to follow! I have just started out with the Pi and found this book very interesting/helpful it details everything you need for starting out (not that you need it by the looks of things!) http://amzn.to/1zJaBnN

Hi sanner,
this is exactly what I am looking for.
I am very new to Raspi and Linux.
Could you tell me more about how you did this / what steps I have to take / what settings to modify to make it work with two wireless interfaces?
Will clients be able to connect to wlan1 and work with the Raspi even if wlan0 is down / Interrnet connection lost in your setup?
Thank you, Klaus

I had a very odd problem where hostapd would work fine if my raspberry pi was booted with a hdmi monitor connected – but wouldn’t work if the hdmi wasn’t connected. This fix has solved it. I assume the hdmi monitor did something to the boot sequence which also fixed the problem.

Forgive me if this isn’t the right place to make this post but I’m getting desperate. I’m trying to make my Raspberry Pi B+ running Raspian-Jessie into an 802.11ac access point using an Edimax EW-7811UAC adapter. Edimax tech support provided me with a pre-compiled binary and it seems to work fine when I’m using the Pi as a client on my home network.

However, after following the procedure on another website to make my Pi an access point, I get to the point where my mobile client can see the access point and can report the speed of the connection but is unable to obtain an IP address. None of the solutions offered on the other website helped which is how I ended up here.

The solution offered here involves editing the /etc/default/ifplugd file but my /etc/default directory has no file by that name. I suspect your using a different way of handling DHCP but I can’t seem to find Parts 1 & 2 of your procedure to try it out. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to fix my problem or at least provide a link to your complete procedure?

I have the same problem with /etc/default/ifplugd. it doesn’t exist on the raspberry pi two. the raspian version that I use is for November 2016. can anyone upload the text file in /etc/default/ifplugd ??

How would I do this with two WLAN interfaces instead of eth0 and wlan0?
(Raspi 2B+ with 2 Edimax adapaters)
wlan0 connects to a router for Internet access and clients connect to wlan1
The clients should maintain connection to Raspi regardless of whether wlan0 is connected or not.

I am very new to Raspi and Linux – obviously.
sanner (post 24) figured it out but didn’t elaborate.

I have the same problem with /etc/default/ifplugd. it doesn’t exist on the raspberry pi two. the raspian version that I use is for November 2016. can anyone upload the text file in /etc/default/ifplugd ??